Page 229 of Claimed At First Sight

“What did you do to him?” I press.

Before Luca can answer, Mamma enters the room. She’s immaculate, her hair styled and her clothes perfectly arranged, but the faint redness around her eyes betrays the tears she shed.

She pours herself a coffee before coming over to kiss my temple and then Luca’s. Her smile trembles at the edges when she looks at him, and I reach for her hand.

Aldo appears in the doorway before any of us can speak.

“The gate just called. Maximo is here,” he says without even a good morning. There’s more tension in his posture than I’ve ever seen.

He turns to me. “Mia, please greet him and bring him to my office.”

As Aldo shifts his attention to Luca, I roll my eyes at being volunteered.

Why me?

We have staff for that. What exactly is he trying to accomplish here?

I nearly argue, but the strain on Aldo’s face and the anxiety in Mamma’s expression stop me.

This isn’t the time to make things more difficult, even if walking willingly toward Maximo is the last thing I want to do.

I bite back my objections and head for the front door.

Maximo came. That has to be a good sign, right?

But how much would Aldo have told him over the phone? Probably very little. Delicate matters like this are usually discussed in person.

God, I’m not prepared to face Maximo again. Not after yesterday.

How do I steel myself against him when just the thought of seeing him sends an unwelcome warmth spreading through my body?

Get it together, Mia.

He only wants to marry me because I have the right blood and he’s deemed me suitable to carry his heirs. That thought, at least, is almost as effective as a bucket of ice water.

With each step toward the front door, I remind myself that I’m angry with Maximo.

I don’t want him.

I’m not affected by him.

And I most certainly haven’t spent half the time I was awake last night remembering the weight of his body over mine or the way he groaned my name in the shower.

I can do this.

All I have to endure is two minutes in his presence while I escort him to Aldo’s office. I can manage that without exploding at him.

Besides, I need him to help Luca. I should try to be nice.

By the time I reach the foyer, my spine is straight and my chin raised. I draw a deep breath, wrap my irritation around me like armor, and open the door.

Maximo has just gotten out of his car and is striding toward the house in a dark suit and overcoat, looking too handsome for his own good. His gaze finds mine immediately, moving over my face with a slow intensity that makes my pulse stumble.

I summon my sweetest smile. “Don Marco. What a delight.”

His eyes narrow at my formal address.

“Mia.”